THE STORY OF AN ENTOMOLOGIST 



At that time the orange-growers of CaHfornia were much 

 exercised over the possibiHty of the importation from Mexico 

 of a maggot that damaged oranges in the state of Morelos, the 

 exact Mexican distribution of which was not known. CaHfornia, 

 in fact, quarantined against all Mexican oranges. It was sus- 

 pected in some quarters that this quarantine was rather unjust, 

 and that it was passed very largely to avoid competition between 

 Mexican and Californian oranges, more especially since the 

 Mexican oranges came on the market earlier in the season than 

 the Californian ones. Since most Mexican oranges that had hith- 

 erto entered California came from the adjacent state of Sonora 

 in Mexico, I took my first Mexican trip in the autumn of 1898, 

 to find whether this particular insect really existed in that state. 



It was a wonderful trip, and many funny things happened. 

 I had never been in Mexico before, and did not realize how very 

 peaceable it was under the somewhat autocratic administration 

 of President Diaz. So I took among my collecting supplies a very 

 serviceable revolver. I went down from Nogales to Hermosillo, 

 investigated the large citrus plantations there, and then went 

 on to Guaymas, on the shore of the Gulf of California. As I 

 wished to go into the interior and to investigate both citrus and 

 cotton, the Swiss proprietor of my hotel engaged a man with 

 an open carriage to take me out to San Jose de Guaymas. The 

 driver was a villainous-looking chap, pockmarked and with 

 slightly crossed eyes, and as I sat on the seat behind him I fur- 

 tively reached into my toilet bag, took out the revolver, and put 

 it into the side-pocket of my coat. At that time I knew only a 

 word or two of Spanish. After a bit I noticed some little donkeys 

 by the roadside, and said interrogatively to the driver, "Burros?" 

 To which he replied amiably, "Si, si." And then there was a 

 silence for a few moments. Then he turned his head and said 

 "Burros Americanos muy grande?" To which I replied, "Si, si." 



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